Re: goodwill store brag

[Michael Black <blackm00@Gloria.CAM.ORG>]

On Sat, 17 Mar 2001, Byron Q. Desnoyers Winmill wrote:

> Nice find!
> 
> But, for all you thrift store junkies out there: is it common to for you
> to find parts of computers, but not the entire machine?  It is a common
> problem out here, particularly when it comes to keyboards and monitors
> (and I'm not talking about the every-so-pervasive Wintel parts).
> 
> Are people simply breaking apart these old systems, hoping that the
> keyboards and displays will work on their PC's, then donating the parts
> when they discover the parts will not work?  Or are stores simply
> tossing the stuff which doesn't resemble contemporary computer parts?
> 
> Byron. 
> 
I once found an HP-150 in the garbage, just lying there on the sidewalk
waiting for the garbage truck.  There was a printer too, and I thought
the computer was actually a monitor.  Lugging it and the printer  home
 on foot, I stopped  along to rest, and took a closer look.  I saw the
number and realized it was a computer.  It came out the same year
as the first Mac, and had the actual computer built into the monitor.
Problem was, there was no keyboard, and the unit uses external drives,
and they weren't in the garbage (or weren't visible).  What was
special about this model is that it used a touch screen.  Like
the Mac, it was the next step in computers, but the touch screen
was a branch that didn't go far, while the mouse of the Mac did.
The computer worked fine, but was completely useless without a keyboard
(not standard) or drive.

In the past couple of years, I've found printers abondoned at bus stops,
and I've found things like a ZX-81 and an empty computer case sitting
on top of sidewalk trash cans intended for litter.

It's not a mystery that people throw things out, but why they throw
them in in this particular fashion.

I certainly do wonder how things get separated when tossed out.  Did
somebody get there before me, and take only a bit?  One time a neighbor
had about six big clunky terminals lying in the driveway, and when
I asked, he said they were for the garbage.  But no keyboards, and
they weren't standard.  He'd thrown them out a few days earlier.
Obviously, he msut have been cleaning the basement, and the keyboards
were stored separatly, and he tossed in the order that he found them.

I'd say people do buy stuff thinking it's something else.  One time
I arrived at a garage sale as someone was opening what at first looked
like a Mac IIci or such.  But when I got closer, I realized that
it was a IIGS.  I tried to explain the difference, he even  noted
that "there were no SIMMs", but he was sure he'd got a then great Mac for
$35 .  Another time, I was at a Rotary Club garage sale, and a couple
of older women were looking at a CoCo and an IBM compatible keyboard
next to it.  It was clear that they were asking a Rotarian about 
plugging the keyboard into the CoCo, though I never heard the answer.

I've found interesting things at Rotary Club garage sales, and church
and school rummage sales (though as time goes by, what the schools
are getting rid of will be later than Apple II's) 

Hamfest (fleamarkets put on by amateur radio clubs) tend to have a lot of
computer items nowadays, but when a non-IBM type system appears, it
is the exception and tends to carry a fairly high price compared
to some of these other places.

   Michael